Our Work
Advancing civil right to counsel since 2003.
Check out our work in 2025!
For many types of civil cases, the potential consequences of losing are dramatic: loss of one’s home, children, livelihood, education, health, safety, liberty, or even life.
In these cases, we must guarantee a right to counsel.
A right to counsel in these critical civil cases can help individual litigants reach better outcomes, aid courts in making more accurate and just decisions, and produce economic benefits for the communities where it is implemented.
While every state provides a right to counsel for some civil cases, it’s a patchwork at best. We discussed this on the American Constitution Society’s Broken Law Podcast (Episode 88), where we joined the host and Georgetown Law Professor Yael Cannon to discuss the civil justice gap and the right to counsel.
Since 2003, the NCCRC and those in our national network have fought for such a right in various civil cases. We do not pursue a one-size-fits-all approach; rather, we work with advocates at the city, county, state, or federal level to support their approach.
What We Do
- Legislative Support
- Litigation Support
- Public Education
- Key focus area: Tenant RTC
Legislative Support
The NCCRC provides support on the RTC-related bills that fit our priority areas. We monitor activity on all pending bills nationwide that would impact the right to counsel in civil cases at the state, federal, and local levels. We ensure that advocates in the affected jurisdictions are informed about the pending bills. We work closely with those advocates to assist with bill amendments, provide national research, engage with bill sponsors and committees, and testify at hearings.
If you have questions or comments about our legislative support work or want to partner with us on legislative efforts, contact our Legal Research and Legislative Specialist: Amanda Insalaco, insalacoa@publicjustice.org.
Litigation Support
The NCCRC assists with RTC-related litigation around the country. The right to counsel in various civil cases has been and continues to be litigated nationwide. A court can issue a decision recognizing a right to counsel under the state constitution or interpret a statutory provision to provide for such a right. Over the last ten years, the NCCRC has supported right to counsel litigation in various states. We do not report on active litigation. For additional information, please contact our Coordinator, John Pollock, at jpollock@publicjustice.org.
Highlighted cases
NOTE: the NCCRC only posts about litigation once is is complete. We do not provide updates on pending litigation.
Family Law
DCPP v. L.O., 213 A.3d 187 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2019). In June 2019, a New Jersey appellate court held that parents being administratively adjudicated for abuse/neglect are entitled to appointed to counsel because the adjudication is a “consequence of magnitude.” This decision was the first in the country to recognize a right to counsel in an administrative proceeding. The NCCRC contributed to an amicus brief filed by the ACLU of New Jersey. Read our writeup.
In re L.B.M., 161 A.3d 172 (Pa. 2017). In March 2017, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recognized a right to counsel for children in termination of parental rights cases. The NCCRC co-wrote an amicus brief alongside the Juvenile Law Center, ACLU of PA, Community Legal Services, Nat’l Association of Counsel for Children, and PA Legal Aid Network. Read our writeup.
Adoption by J.E.V., 141 A.3d 254 (N.J. 2016). In July 2016, the Supreme Court of New Jersey recognized a constitutional right to counsel for parents in private adoption cases. The NCCRC worked with counsel for the mother as well as many of the amici on developing the arguments. Read our writeup.
LB v. Chief Justice of the Probate and Family Court Department, 474 Mass. 231 (2016). In May 2016, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that parents have a constitutional right to counsel in proceedings to modify or terminate a private guardianship of a child. This followed on the heels of In re Guardianship of V.V., 24 N.E.3d 1022 (Mass. 2015), that recognized the right to counsel for parents when the guardianship is initially established. The NCCRC supported amici in both cases. Read our writeup here.
In re Adoption of A.W.S. & K.R.S., 377 Mont. 234 (2014). In December 2014, the Montana Supreme Court held under the state constitution’s equal protection clause that all parents have a right to counsel in adoption cases. The NCCRC contributed substantially to the litigation strategy in this case. Read our writeup.
In re T.M., 319 P.3d 338, 339 (Haw. 2014). In January 2014, the Hawaii Supreme Court, rules that all Hawaii parents have a right to counsel in abuse and neglect and termination of parental rights cases. The NCCRC recruited the amici and co-drafted the amicus brief. In 2021, in In re L.I., 482 P.3d 1079 (Haw. 2021), which the NCCRC also supported, the Supreme Court strengthened the right to counsel. Read our writeup of In re T.M. or In re L.I.
G.P. v. Indiana Dept of Child Servs., 4 N.E.3d 1158 (Ind. 2014). In 2014, the Indiana Court of Appeals unexpectedly cast doubt on whether there really is a statutory right to counsel for parents in abuse/neglect cases. In March 2014, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that not only do parents have a right to counsel, but the failure to appoint counsel automatically requires reversal. The NCCRC assisted petitioner and amici with briefs to the Indiana Supreme Court. Read our writeup.
Child Support Obligors
Kavadas v. Martinez, No. MER-L-1004-15 (N.J. Super. Ct. 2019). In Dec 2018, a New Jersey court recognized a constitutional right to counsel for child support obligors facing suspension of their driver’s licenses. The NCCRC worked closely with counsel on the right to counsel claim. Read our writeup.
Failure to Pay Fees and Fines
Commonwealth v. Diaz, 191 A.3d 850 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2018). In April 2018, a Pennsylvania court held that those facing incarceration for inability to pay court fees/fines have a constitutional right to counsel. The NCCRC filed an amicus brief in the case calling for a constitutional right to counsel. Read our writeup.
Public Education
Development of model acts and civil RTC resolutions. The NCCRC was instrumental in the unanimous 2006 passage of American Bar Association (ABA) Resolution 112A, which “urges federal, state, and territorial governments to provide legal counsel as a matter of right at public expense to low-income persons in those categories of adversarial proceedings where basic human needs are at stake, such as those involving shelter, sustenance, safety, health or child custody, as determined by each jurisdiction.” The resolution was co-sponsored by thirteen state and local bar associations, and the principles therein were subsequently adopted by an additional six state bar associations and five access-to-justice commissions. The NCCRC also contributed substantially to the ABA’s 2010 Model Access Act and Basic Principles, which give guidance to states considering the implementation of new rights to counsel.
In 2018, the NCCRC, in cooperation with the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (SCLAID), authored Resolution 114, which calls for a right to counsel whenever physical liberty is at stake, whether it’s civil or criminal and regardless of whether the plaintiff is the state or not.
Raising awareness about international treaty obligations. The U.S. has ratified two international treaties, which make the provision of counsel mandatory in certain civil cases. These include the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The NCCRC has repeatedly encouraged the United States to meet its obligations by submitting testimony during public comment periods. Additionally, the NCCRC participated in a Civil Society Consultation with the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable regarding Goal 16 of the U.N.’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, which relates to access to justice.
Press and media work. An essential part of the NCCRC’s work is speaking to the media and general public about the importance of a right to counsel in basic human needs civil cases. In the past few years we’ve spoken to NPR, NBC Nightly News, Law360, Harper’s Magazine, and Newsweek, among many other national and local outlets.
Key Press: Alone Before the Law. A 2021 Washington Post 4-part editorial series on civil RTC.
Part 1: broad civil RTC survey
Part 2: adoptions
Part 3: evictions, guardianships, and general legal aid supply/demand
Part 4: domestic violence
Publications and other advocacy tools. While direct technical support is an important part of our work, we also strive to put as much information as possible in writing so that advocates can access it independently. So check out our publications page and advocacy tools page for additional resources.
“It is time, it is past time, for this great nation to embrace a civil analog to Gideon, and to ensure that in those life-altering situations that so many of our fellow citizens face, the right to adequate legal representation is mandated. There will be those who reflexively say, “well, we don’t have the resources to do” that which I call on the nation to do. But let’s be honest: we do not lack the resources or at least the means by which those resources might be generated. We lack the will. We have turned away from and chosen not to hear the cries who live on the margins of our society. This is a stain on our democracy.”
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, 2016 NLADA Exemplar Awards Dinner
